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Tag Archives: New York

Last night, Jon Stewart took to the airwaves to lambaste “Chicago-style pizza.” Not surprisingly, this kicked off a torrent of pizza-centric vitriol between fans of New York and Chicago pizza lovers. As a Chicagoan I found everything Stewart said to be funny and true, but he made the mistake that so many outsiders make: he made Chicago-style, deep dish pizza sound like the only game in town.

One must be very clear when discussing Chicago pizza. “Chicago-style pizza” and pizza in Chicago are not the same. “Chicago-style” pizza may be what the rest of the country associates with Chicago, but deep dish is something that is often reserved for tourists and treating out of town guests. People who actually live in Chicago don’t eat deep dish on a regular basis.

Chicago’s thin crust pizza, itself a vast culinary universe, is where the real action is. Places like Apart Pizza Company or Fornello’s are where Chicagoans get their pizza day in, day out. So, the next time you’re in Chicago and want some pizza, don’t go to a deep-dish-serving chain, head to a local pizza place and order some thin crust. You’ll thank me for it.

**Full disclosure: I love New York style pizza. Some of the best in the city can be found at Como Pizza, 4035 Broadway.

A few years ago after my grandmother passed away my father and I found a box of photographs and documents in a closet. At the top were photos we recognized: family trips, cousins, weddings and births, but as we sifted through the box we went further back in time until finally reaching the turn on the twentieth century.

At the bottom of the box were photos of her father—my great-grandfather—during World War I, his Army discharge papers, and paperwork for things like apartment leases and life insurance. As we assembled the pieces a portrait of a man began to emerge. Continue reading →